Traditional soap dispensers have a number of shortcomings. They generally sit on countertops or other surfaces near a faucet and may topple over or take up valuable space. They also typically require the user to press or pull an area on the dispenser in order to actuate the dispensing function, which contact can spread germs and generally be unsanitary. For example, in public restrooms, users may not wish to touch or pull a lever that others have repeatedly touched. In the health care arena, such contact can be even more concerning and unhygienic, raising health and contamination concerns.
One solution to the space problem has been to mount dispensers on or near hand-washing areas in order to save space. Dispensers designed for use in public venues (as opposed to domestic use) should provide a housing for the soap reservoir that can be closed, and in some instances, secured for sanitary reasons, but also easy enough for a custodian to change the soap reservoir when necessary.
One solution to the contact/hygiene problem presented by users pushing or pulling portions of the dispenser in order to dispense soap has been to design dispensers that automatically dispense a desired amount of soap, i.e., dispensers that function touch-free. This prevents the user from coming into contact with any part of the dispenser, and is particularly beneficial in a hospital or other health care setting, where the transmission of germs and bacteria is of particular concern. However, current designs of these dispensers also present some challenges and problems.
For example, some automatic dispensers fail to provide a consistent and accurate amount of soap upon each dispensing cycle. Some health regulations (e.g., various hospital jurisdictions) require that a certain amount of soap be dispensed per use. Additionally, some soap manufacturers recommend a specific amount of soap required for each use, e.g., as defined on a product label or package insert. It is thus accordingly desirable to have a reliable, consistent soap dispenser design that will automatically dispense a set amount of soap per use.
In other instances, dispensers are often designed to dispense a foamed soap. Foamed soaps tend to be easier to spread than unfoamed liquid and can cause less waste due to splashing or run-off because the foam has a higher surface tension than unfoamed liquid. Foamed soap also requires less liquid to create the same or comparable cleaning power than liquid soaps. Additionally, the use of foam can help save space by using a post-foaming soap gel or liquid that is stored in gel or liquid form, but converts to foam upon exiting the reservoir. For example, the foaming soap may be maintained in a pressurized container. In such pressurized systems, the pressure changes as the amount of soap in the reservoir reduces. This pressure change directly affects the amount of soap dispensed during a use. Such dispensers may not always release a consistent amount of soap without specialized systems designed to detect and monitor the amount of soap that is dispensed at each use.
Furthermore, many commercial soap dispensers are sold for use with specially configured bottles that are designed only to fit that specific company's soap dispensers. This can be expensive for the customer seeking to stock the soap dispenser because it must purchase soap bottles from the particular manufacturer whose dispensers are installed at its location. This can also limit choices, because the customer may wish to purchase a different brand or type of soap (e.g., at a different price point), but be prevented from doing so without refitting or replacing the currently-installed dispensers.
However, there are often space regulation requirements associated with wall-mounted dispensers. The dispensers often are restricted from extending a certain distance from the wall. This may present challenges to the dispenser designer because of the machinery often necessary in order to cause a soap dispenser to work automatically and/or to cause the dispenser to transform gel or liquid soap into a foam. As such, the dispensers often do need to be designed for use with specially shaped bottles so that the bottles will fit properly with the internal machinery of the dispenser. For example, one challenge presented to the current inventors was to design a dispenser that could house an appropriate motor and foam pump, but not extend a certain distance from the wall on which the dispenser is mounted due to health regulations. So rather than design a dispenser to be used with a specially-shaped bottle (e.g., one having an offset opening positioned at an edge of the bottle so that machinery can fit behind the bottle at the bottom of the dispenser), they sought to design a dispenser to be used with a pre-existing bottle (e.g., one having its opening positioned in line with the central axis of the bottle).
Additionally, if a customer wishes to change from liquid soap to foamed soap or vice versa, it must purchase a number of new dispensers, causing excess cost and inconvenience. One benefit of the designs described herein is that they may be used with or without foam pumps, with slight to minimal modifications, such that a foamed soap, a liquid soap, a gel, an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, or any other appropriate substance may be dispensed from the dispenser.
It is thus desirable to provide an automatic soap dispenser that can be used with pre-existing soap bottles.
It is also desirable to provide a dispenser that can be easily opened and secured for replacement of the soap reservoir contained inside the dispenser.
It is further desirable to provide a dispenser configured to be mounted to a desired location.
It is also desirable to provide a dispenser configured to dispense a set amount of soap during each dispensing step. In some instances, the dispenser can be designed to dispense liquid soap, foamed soap, or other antibacterial solutions, such as hand sanitizer.
These and other advantages will become apparent from the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.